


Still a Murderer

by ExOmelas



Category: One Tree Hill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-29
Updated: 2019-10-29
Packaged: 2021-01-08 04:54:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21230144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ExOmelas/pseuds/ExOmelas
Summary: Keith Scott survived the day of the school shooting, but Dan Scott is still a murderer. In this story, the two deaths at the end of the day are Jimmy Edwards and Abby Brown, who witnessed Dan's attempted murder of Keith. What follows is a fairly close parallel with the show - Dan's unravelling, Lucas's determination that Jimmy didn't kill Keith is transferred to Mouth who doesn't believe his friend could kill, Haley's and Karen's pregnancies, Deb's addiction - except it has Keith!





	1. Two shots

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith is alive! Really, that's all you need to know, but if you really want more: Keith and Peyton bond over their mutual shots in the leg. Keith has no plans to turn Dan in, but he does have a plan to take care of Peyton so Lucas can spend more time with Brooke.

"Hey, look! We match." Keith gripped the handles of his crutches and hopped forward into Peyton's room. There had been one private room available when they'd both been brought in, which he'd figured she needed more. Out of the two of them she was probably the more in shock, the more traumatised. He'd seen this coming for a while.

"What do you mean?" Peyton looked up from the music magazine she was reading or that, at least, she had been facing. Her eyes were so spaced out he doubted she'd been taking any of it in. _In fact_, he squinted at the cover page, _that magazine is from 1987. I was _at_ that Guns 'n' Roses show._

"Sorry, that didn't make sense quite yet." Keith sat down - or rather fell down - on the chair in front of the bed. He pressed against the floor with his right leg, the uninjured one, and pushed the chair out a bit so there was room for the other one. _The injured leg, the one my brother shot._

He rolled up his trouser leg past his shin and elevated it on the corner of Peyton's bed. He pointed to the gauze taped to the inside of his leg and said, "Ta-da!"

"It's good to not be alone," Peyton said, with barely a pause, sucking in a breath.

Keith smiled with one side of his mouth. "You been thinking that thought for a while?"

Peyton nodded. "Ever since Lucas found me in the library."

Keith blinked, but didn't say anything. As far as he knew, Lucas was dating Brooke this week. But the way he'd carried Peyton out, so confident, determined. He'd barely even put up a fight when Keith told him to get out. He must have really cared about her being safe. So Keith did too.

Peyton's wound was still exposed, but Keith had seen enough of his own that he didn't flinch. He pointed at it now and said, "Like looking in a mirror."

Peyton looked up and squinted at him. "What?"

"Okay, okay." Keith grinned and raised his hands in surrender. "A very young, beautiful mirror."

Peyton pursed her lips and sat up a bit, pulling herself forward by holding the fold-out table her lunch was on. "Nice save. But yeah, I understand. Two people, two legs, two bullets... one day."

"One shooter," Keith added.

"Jimmy... He looked so scared... I don't think he even meant to shoot me," Peyton said, tracing circles on the table with her finger.

Keith breathed in slowly. "I don't think he meant to do much of this."

"Yeah... the moment he shot me I could see it in his eyes. It was like he'd woken up from a trance," Peyton said.

Keith nodded but didn't say anything. Lying about Jimmy made him want to vomit. The truth was that he had seen the eyes of someone who'd tried to kill him, but they'd been the eyes of his brother Dan. A brother he'd once contemplated killing, who'd now come even closer to killing him. Keith was fairly sure that if they didn't call it even, both their lives would be over within the month, one way or the other.

"Hey."

Keith craned his neck around and smiled wide at Lucas, who was standing in the doorway with Brooke. Brooke was maybe slightly behind him at first but she walked with him up to Peyton's bedside and held his hand.

"Ew, are you two comparing your wounds?" Brooke squirmed.

"We would be but Keith's too chicken to take his dressing off!" Peyton laughed, holding Brooke's hand for a moment.

"Hey, the doctor was very proud of this dressing," Keith said. "I mean, wo am I to strip away her masterpiece?"

"Off! Off! Off! Off!" Brooke chanted.

After a moment, Lucas joined in, leaning on her. Keith smirked and started to oblige but suddenly Lucas stopped chanting.

"It's not actually that gross at the moment, Luke," Keith said. "But if you were just kid-"

"I thought I saw Dan," Lucas said. "Out in the corridor somewhere."

Keith leaned back. "Hm... Well, that is a scary sight."

"Yeah, just... second time in as many days," Lucas mumbled. He sucked some air in and snapped back to them. "Sorry. Long day - days. I think I'm going to go find something to eat. You guys want anything?"

"Just ate, but thanks," Keith replied. Peyton tapped her soup bowl at the side of the fold-up table.

"Okay, cool. You coming, Brooke?" Lucas said, already on the move. Brooke shrugged at Keith and Peyton, mouthing an apology, then headed off after him.


	2. I thought I saw Dan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucas is lost in his thoughts and not letting Brooke in. Told you this was pretty close to the show.

That wasn't the first time Lucas had said something about seeing Dan under his breath but each time he did it seemed like a brand new revelation, just as fresh to him. Brooke didn't know much about amnesia, or whatever, but that couldn't be good.

"I saw him, Brooke," Lucas said, his voice soft as if Dan was listening from the walls. There were doctors rushing around, patients pushing machines as they shuffled along. Nobody seemed to be paying too much attention to them.

"Saw Dan?" Brooke asked, determined to take this on once and for all. "Because I think I saw the guy you saw a moment ago and yeah, he was kinda broad-shouldered with a weirdly fixed helmet of hair, but that wasn't Dan."

"Yeah, I know." Lucas nodded, tightening his grip on her arm, as if he was one of the patients leaning on a loved one. "I meant before. I saw him go into the school as I was leaving."

_ With Peyton _ , Brooke added in her head, but didn't say anything.

"Maybe he went in after Keith," Brooke said, leading him towards some chairs at the side of the corridor. As they sat she said, "I know they don't get on as well as some siblings but maybe there was some instinct in Dan to make sure his family was okay. Or maybe he was going in after you - or Nathan. Did he know Nathan was out by that point?"

"I dunno," Lucas said. "Maybe. Maybe I should talk to  _ Nathan _ . It's nice to not be fighting with him again."

"Sure thing, boyfriend," Brooke said, "Shall we go find him?"

Lucas's eyes flitted back towards Peyton's room but he looked back to Brooke and said, "Yeah, alright. I guess Peyton's got Keith and Keith's got Peyton. My mom said she'd drop by soon too. Let's go."

They stood up and walked silently along the corridor, Lucas lost in his thoughts and Brooke desperately wishing she could hear them.


End file.
